Lone White Wolf
by fortheloveofawerewolf
Summary: The pack is intrigued when Embry imprints on another wolf, this one not a member of the pack. At the same time, Paul is interested in a tall dark girl with mysterious eyes. Canon compliant. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not SM, and I do not own Twilight, Paul, or shapeshifters. I only own Lake.**

 **If you want to see some of Lake's outfits, check me out on Polyvore! I'm Miss-Vannie**

Monday Morning

Paul:  
"New girl in school?" I asked Jared, looking around for signs of crowding around potential new blood.  
"No, just grown girl in school. Very easy on the eyes."  
"Huh. Who is it?"  
"The girl over there with grey eyes. They kinda pop out of her face because she's so dark."  
"Woah. Yeah they do. Um. I'm going to go talk to her."  
"Why? It's not like she's alone or anything." I took a step forward.  
"I just... Feel like I should."  
"Whatever. I'll see you after second period."  
I slowly walked over to the girl. She was very pretty, from the angle that I got. But her eyelashes were thick and I couldn't quite see her eyes. The people around her sorta drifted back in any direction, like pepper and soap in that stupid science experiment with water. I was the soap. I didn't really mind, as petty humans tended to annoy me and I would have trouble keeping me temper. As I grew closer, she started to look at me. Finally our eyes met. It wasn't what I expected at all. There was no mysterious wind that blew our hair back while we blinked slowly and seductively. It was a normal eyes meeting. Betcha thought I was gonna imprint, right? Well, I wish I had. But no. Nothing.  
"...hi?"  
"Hey there. I'm Paul."  
"I'm Lake. Is there a reason you're staring at me like that?"  
"... Sorry. Nope. Absolutely nothing." I was a bit frustrated. Imprinting was a bitch.  
She laughed tinkly...ly...  
"I might just know what you were looking for." I looked at her, confused. But she offered no explanation. Just started introducing me to her new group. I got Sandra, Matt and Carla before I couldn't remember. Well, three wasn't bad. They all looked like relatively nice people. So I decided I would chill with them. I plopped down in the seat next to Lake. As the bell rang, her friends started spreading out into the seats.  
Mr. Derane came in and started teaching. He was a nice, forty-something man with a good sense of humor. One of those extremely wholesome people everyone wants to have teach them.  
I whispered to Lake.  
"Hey, are you new?"  
She laughed that tinkly laugh again, but very softly.  
"Not new. Just different. Less awkward, you may say. One day you'll know."  
"And one day you'll give me an answer that doesn't have to be deciphered."  
"Secrets aren't always mine to tell."  
"There you go again."  
She just winked and looked at Mr Derane, who graciously didn't call us out. His philosophy was: if they're not bothering anyone else, why make a scene. If you fail a test, you suffer the consequences.  
After class was over, I gathered my scribblings together and shoved them into my backpack. Lake did the same, neatly putting them into her folder, which she carried.  
"What class do you have next, Lake?"  
"Math, Algebra 2." She rolled her eyes.  
"Crap. That sucks. Well then, I guess I'll see you at lunch?"  
"Sure, I'll save you a seat. Do you have anyone else you want to save a seat for?"  
"...no, they'll all be fine."  
"Bitch! Hey! Yeah you. Where are you going?" I groaned as I heard Karol call out. Lake was her target.  
"I don't think that's any of your business." She responded coolly.  
"Too fucking bad. You know, you might actually look human if you covered up that face with a little makeup." I opened my mouth, no sure if I should say something or if Lake wanted to respond on her own. She rested her elbow on my shoulder. She was quite tall, but her elbow was still pointing up because I was so tall.  
"Maybe I'm not human. Maybe I'm an alien come to take you back to my planet, Guadalajara to drain your soul and make you my minion. Did you think of that?" I was almost doubled over, trying not to laugh and get involved.  
"You know what? I don't car-"  
"And another thing. I'm not afraid to show my true colors or my real face." She gestured in a circle around her face.  
"You should be." Karol shot back.  
"Maybe I should. But I'm not. So, toodles. I'm off to do something PRODUCTIVE." And that confident little vixen walked gracefully off down the hall, leaving an astounded Karol behind her. And WHY couldn't I have her as my imprint? Half the people in the hall were watching, and as I walked after Lake, I whispered to Karol,  
"Girl, you just got OWNED."  
She was still fuming and couldn't answer. I found Lake laughing quietly with another girl at the water fountain. I heard them talking about holy macaroni. So apparently Lake didn't go around telling her "I'm so awesome" stories. Just dominated and moved on.  
"Oh, hey Paul, do you know Marie?"  
"No, we haven't met. Hi Marie."  
"Hey." She but her lip, obviously intimidated by me. I gave her a warm smile. She smiled timidly back.  
"Marie's in chem with me." Lake said. Marie softly spoke.  
"Yeah, we both love combining solutions for the colors alone."  
"Ah. Sounds like you girls are a dangerous pair then." I said with a friendly smirk.  
"Could be! We haven't blown anything up yet." Marie was getting a little more comfortable. A guy walked past us quickly in the hall, but slowed to say hi to Lake and Marie.  
"Lake! What's good? Marie, we still on for tonight? Hey, dude I don't know!"  
"Hey Mark! Jordan's looking for you in the caf."  
"Hi Mark."  
"Awesome socks, seeya later!" He was walking backward but then turned around and walked quickly into the cafeteria.  
"Mark is your boyfriend, Marie?"  
She blushed very deeply.  
"Um... It's kinda... Complicated. And unofficial. But sorta."  
"We'll looks like you got a great guy there. And he's very lucky too." I told her, making her blush even harder.  
"Oh, thanks. I didn't expect you to be so nice, Paul." She told me. I raised my eyebrows. Lake clarified.  
"There are lots of stories about your temper, hotstuff."  
"Oh. Well that's not good." I was a little embarrassed. I knew exactly which stories they were talking about. I'm not exactly longsuffering.  
"No worries. I don't judge people based on their rep. I once had one too." Lake said.  
"You were violent and temperamental? I can't see that."  
"No, I was awkward and antisocial."  
Marie giggled and we both looked at her.  
"So like me." We all laughed.  
"No honey, you're cute and intriguing," Lake said, plopping an arm around Marie.  
"But now you're very popular because you're witty and nice, Lake."  
"Oh thanks.. It makes me happy to hear that."  
"And I'm still cute, right?" Marie said, with a half-smile and a twinkle in her eyes.  
"Yes, you're very cute." I told her. She blushed again.  
"Anyways, hotstuff and cutie pie, I gotta go to math. So I'll see you both later!"  
Lake waltzed off in the direction of the math building, and Marie said goodbye, too. I absentmindedly went to my class and sat through the lecture, mulling over this new girl. What made her so popular? She was very ordinary. But it seemed like much of the school was her friend. I was coming up with a blank. When class was over, I ran into Karol. She was still cranky. She was our school's resident bitch. Every school has one. But I grabbed her arm. She spun around.  
"Hey can I ask you something?"  
"You can ask. I probably won't answer but you can ask."  
"What makes Lake so popular? Do you know her from last year?"  
"Psht, you're obsessed with that chick too? Yeah I remember her. She was a brown, awkward noodle, with no sense of style or humor."  
"So why do people like her now?"  
"She's pretty I guess. She's not that smart, interesting or funny. I don't really know what she has going for her."  
"Huh. But she's nice and she cared about people. That's why people like her. Because you're both pretty, but nobody really likes you. No offense."  
"Like I care. I don't need human approval."  
I looked at her intently. She seemed sad or lonely.  
"Are you okay?" She took a deep breath.  
"Yeah I'm fine. Here, give this to her. She dropped it on her way to class."  
"What is it? And how come its wrapped?"  
"I don't want anyone to know its her journal and that I'm giving it back without saying anything."  
"What's the W for?"  
"Well, I was mad at her when I wrote that so it's W for W-"  
"Okaaaayyyyy" I didn't know why it bothered me so much to hear Lake called a whore.  
"I was gonna say Walker. That's her last name."  
"Oh. Right. Kay. So why are you giving it back?"  
"Nothing good in there. Girl has no crushes, secrets or people that she hates. It's all stories about other people. All nice. She's the most irritating person."  
"Wow. She really is that nice. Well, thanks Karol. I'll give this to her. Gotta go to class."  
I left, tucking the journal under my arm. What was the catch? How was I missing the one thing wrong with Lake? She couldn't be just a nice person. She's too... Intriguing. I wondered if I HAD imprinted and just didn't know it. Maybe my mixed blood wasn't strong enough to trigger such a harsh reaction to my imprint. After all, the only guys who had imprinted so far were Sam and Quil, both were direct descendants. My mom wasn't even half of the original pack members. And my dad... Well actually I had no idea who he even was, even less who he was descended from. That was an interesting theory, and I liked the thought of imprinting on Lake. I was quite proud of myself for thinking of it.  
Finally it was lunch period. I found Lake in the caf, sitting on the top of a table with a group around her. I found the seat she had saved next to her. Jared looked confused from across the room, but shrugged and sat with the other wolves. Embry glanced over and started laughing. I saw him mouth "imprint" and make a kissy face, but I just rolled my eyes, surprising myself at how little he bothered me. They all looked shocked that I hadn't even growled at them. But they soon forgot and moved on.  
-0-  
Later that day, I dumped my backpack on my couch and took off for patrol. As soon as I phased, Embry was bombarding me with questions.  
"Dude, who the heck was that girl you were sitting with? Did you imprint on her?"  
"Her name is Lake Walker. I don't know if I did, I think I might have."  
I replayed the first time I saw her in my head for him to see.  
"Nope. Not strong enough."  
I explained my theory to him.  
"Woah, did you think of that yourself?"  
I grunted, a little irked. Where was my calm from when I was hanging out with Lake earlier?  
"Maybe she's supernatural. Makes you calmer. She's not a leech, though, right?"  
"No she's not a leech. Maybe you're right. I mean, vamps and werewolves exist, we can't be the only two supernatural beings out there. That would explain why so many people like her."  
"Huh. Could be. We'll have to ask Sam later."  
We continued running in silence. Well, not really. We both had things running through our heads, but neither of us cared about each other's. mostly having to do with homework.  
I fell asleep that night thinking of Lake and her mysterious grey eyes. And all the mysterious things she would say.


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday  
"Sam called a pack meeting. There's another wolf in the woods. Quil spotted him."  
Groaning, I rolled out of bed. Stupid wolves destroying my sleep schedule. I threw some water on my face to wake me up a little more before going outside and stripping. Jared and I phased at the same time and went to the place Sam, Jake and Quil were. Embry was still slowly coming. Lazy bum. Sam was in the middle of negotiations with the new, all white wolf. Basically, they were discussing pros/cons of the new wolf joining the pack. Apparently the alpha could communicate through telepathy with another pack alpha or lone wolf, so Sam only was in direct contact. We could hear what they were both saying, but we lost it if Sam phased out. Finally Embry jogged up.  
"What's good?"  
"Nothing. We aren't doing anything, so I lost a good two hours of sleep for this."  
"Identity of new wolf unknown?"  
"Yup. He won't phase back for some reason."  
"Huh." Embry turned to look at this new wolf, and their eyes met. All the other wolves could feel Embry imprint right there. Wait. Hang on, back up. Embry imprinted on another wolf?  
After the initial shock, we all busted out laughing. Embry imprinted on a dude. That's funny, right? No. It wasn't. But what else can you do? The new wolf left, but we didn't notice at first. We were too busy with Embry. It made us very uncomfortable to think of one of the pack being gay. We all phased back to human form.  
"Woah there, Embry! I'm sure you two will be very happy together..."  
Sam finally cut off our taunting about Embry being gay. This was new and weird because we were all guys, so did Embry look at us in that way? We were currently all naked, which didn't help the situation.  
"The fates have chosen the new wolf for Embry and we won't question it. And you all will lay off of him." Sam used his alpha command to make sure Embry wouldn't be tormented any more.  
"Phase back and search the woods for the white wolf. I still don't know who he is."  
Although we searched the forest for hours, we found no sign of him. Weekend status: ruined.  
But I did spot Lake sitting on a rock, drawing. Since I'm now completely silent, I snuck up behind her and took a peek at her picture. A lone wolf, howling up at the moon. Very classic choice but with so much more depth for me. I left silently, and phased out, and went back after putting on a pair of shorts. And eating brunch.  
"Lake, what are you doing here?"  
"I'm just chillaxing. What is your excuse?"  
"The woods aren't safe for girls like you to just be chillaxing in. How often do you come out here?"  
"Hey, I asked you a question. Why are you out here?"  
"I'm trying to get you to not go into dangerous environments like the forest."  
"Fine, I see how it is. I come out here a lot. It's nice and quiet. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."  
"You have no idea what's out there."  
"And you do? What is out there is so dangerous?"  
"Well... There are wolves. A lot of hikers have seen large wolves in this area."  
"I'm not afraid of wolves. I know how to take one down. I have actually done it before, my dad and I used to go hiking together a lot."  
"You. Can take down a wolf. Really. This I have to see."  
"Maybe someday you will. Who knows?" She stood up, clearly challenging me to so something.  
I didn't know what to do. Phase and show her wolves were a lot more scary here than wherever she was before? I couldn't blow the secret. I didn't think that she was my imprint. After all, Embry had very strongly imprinted on another wolf, and we all felt it, and he was about as mixed blooded as I am. So that theory gone. Crap. I stood up a little straighter, my chin just at the top of her head. I am a full head taller than her.  
"I could take you down and I'm only human. You are no match for a wild animal."  
"Wanna see my moves?"  
"I'd love to." I stepped a little back. I hadn't realized we were so close. My chest was only inches away from hers.  
"Ready?" I rolled my eyes. Mostly for show, I was really interested to see what this girl could do.  
"Go for it."  
She punched me in the gut before landing a blow to my face. I was surprised at the power and force behind her hits. But I'm a werewolf, so I quickly grabbed her wrists, twisting one arm behind her back. She wriggled out from my grasp, ducking under my arms and behind me, jumping on my back and clamping my arms to my sides. She has a lot of strength. Her long legs wrapped around my arms, pinning my elbows to my sides and she grabbed my hands in her long thin fingers. I couldn't help but be turned on that she was so agile. And that she was on my back. And that in one easy move I could have her pinned down beneath me an kiss her. What? Yeah. That sounds like a good plan. Using my wolf speed, I flipped her over my head, catching her before she hit the ground and quickly locked her legs under mine and her arms above her head with my hands. But she snaked her legs around my knees and rolled me over, sitting on my stomach, smirking at me. I feel like she can read my thoughts and knew what dirty things were going through my mind.  
"Wha-how did you move so fast?"  
"I could ask you the same thing, but I don't think either one of us is going to answer." She tilted her head. "Did I win? I think I did."  
I growled. How could I have been beaten by a girl. I'm a guy. A werewolf guy. What dark magic does she have over me?  
She loosened her grip and again I growled and wrapped my arms around her tiny body, making her squeak. I brought her down and laid her on top of me. But instead of fighting we just lay there, arms and legs tangled beyond belief. She was still breathing heavily, her chest expanding against mine. I was enjoying this. I closed my eyes, letting her earthy scent sink in.  
"Aw, is big tough Paul getting all cozy with a girl?"  
I just grunted. I was, and I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there. You forget, my weekend was started early this morning, and I didn't get to bed last night. More like this morning. So I was very tired.  
"It's okay, I'm perfectly comfortable laying on top of you hard muscles..." She poked my six pack for emphasis. I opened my eyes again to see her with her chin propped up on her fist, looking at me intently.  
"What?"  
"Nothing."  
"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?"  
She giggled.  
"As if. You forget, I'm tougher than you thought. Face it, Paul. You're no longer king of the forest. I am."  
I couldn't help but laugh.  
"Okay, king. What's your next order for your humble servant?"  
"First, tell me why you're laying on the ground with me under your very heavy arms?"  
"Cuz it's comfortable. For me."  
"Uh huh. Okay. Next order: get up and take me to your best diner."  
"My pleasure, king."  
"And I'm not king, I'm queen."  
"Yes queen."  
I stood up, offering my hand to help Lake get up. To my surprise, she took it.  
"I'm confused. One minute, you're all badass and don't need a man to protect you, the next, you let me help you. What's your angle?"  
"I just wanted you to realize that women aren't made of glass and can make decisions for themselves. But that doesn't mean we don't want guys to be gentlemen." She smiled.  
"Okay. Got it. Well then, let me escort you to Sue's diner and buy you our finest chicken salad."  
"Why thank you, I could use a good meal."  
We trudged toward the highway. By the time we got to the edge of the forest, it was raining pretty hard. By the time we got to Sue's we were both drenched. She was holding her sketchbook and pencils close to her chest to try to keep them as dry as possible. I was not wearing a shirt, (I know, big shocker there) so I didn't have extra clothes to give her. So we were sprinting across the parking lot to get inside ASAP. Sue was there, and bustled up to us.  
"Paul, Lake! What were you doing out there! You guys are soaked!"  
"Hi Sue, could we have a booth for two and some towels please?"  
She led us to a table in the corner and hurried off to get some towels. To my surprise (and satisfaction) Lake slid into the booth next to me rather than across. She plunked her damp book on the table and set her pencil beside it.  
"What's the best thing to eat here?" Because of the angle we were at, she had her head tilted up at me looking through her eyelashes. She was really pretty. And right there. I leaned down, tipping her chin up to meet my lips. I kissed her softly. She found my hand and squeezed it softly. When she pulled away, I kept my eyes closed. Just living in the moment. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes. She had laid her head against my chest and was looking at the menu.  
"Lake?"  
She hmed, tilting her head a little.  
"I really like you."

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger! I was looking for a good place to cut this chappie off. I will update with the next one soon tho. Please comment/favorite all that good stuff! ;)**  
 **P.s. I do not own Twilight, I am obviously not SM. I only own Lake.**


	3. Chapter 3

Lone White Wolf  
She froze. Did she not see this coming? I mean, I did just kiss her.  
"Lake?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I like hanging out with you. I like how smart and strong and funny you are. Heck, I even like just thinking about you."  
"I like spending time with you too, Paul."  
"But..."  
"I don't want a relationship."  
"With me or just at all?"  
"With anyone."  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yes, why- oh! No, it's not because of my last boyfriend. I'm not heartbroken over him." She rolled her eyes. I imagined her with a dumb, hapless guy.  
"But you're not going to date. Or tell me why?"  
"Sorry. I just don't want to be too attached anywhere."  
"But we can still hang out?"  
"Sure. Of course, I had fun."  
"So what are we then? Friends?" I silently hoped she would add 'with benefits' onto the end of my sentence. If we couldn't date, I wanted the closest thing to it.  
"You'll be tired of being my friend."  
"Oh, I'm already tired of just being friends. I'm not going to promise to not kiss you."  
She giggled.  
"What if I don't want you to kiss me again?"  
"What if you do?"  
"What makes you think I do?"  
"Because you keep moving your face closer." I'm serious. She was barely a centimeter away from my lips and I could feel her breath on my lips. Her face colored deeply.  
"You're right. I do want you to kiss me again." I wasted no time, my mouth covered hers. I heard Sue plop some towels on the table and leave again. She would be such a cool mom. I pulled back as my stomach growled, effectively ruining the moment and making us both laugh.  
"My everything says yes, but my stomach says no."  
"I can't pick a favorite thing about that sentence."  
"Want some food?"  
"You know it."  
I pointed out the best dishes on the menu, and Lake surprised me by saying  
"Let's get them all and split everything."  
I raised my eyebrows. That would be a lot of food. But I decided that there would be no problem finishing it if she didn't eat much.  
Sue came and took our order, chuckling to herself at what she thought was my appetite. Oh if only she knew. We wrapped ourselves up in towels.  
"So you were drawing when I found you. Do you do that often?"  
"Umm. Kinda?" She moved her hands over her sketchbook rather protectively, so I didn't ask to see her work. She continued.  
"When you're as awkward and uncoordinated as I have been so much of my life, drawing is a way for me to escape reality and stuff."  
"Somehow I can't picture you as awkward."  
"Wow. You really didn't notice me last few years then. What caught you eye? My striking good looks?" She batted her eyelashes at me.  
"Well... I can't say honestly that I'm oblivious to them. But I see how you're friends with half the school. Misfits, cool people, everyone loves you aside from that big stressed out ball of bitch, Karol. What's your secret?"  
"I treat people like I want them to treat me. And they apparently like that. I remember what it's like to have no friends, so I seek out people that are alone. I know popular kids sometimes have a hard time finding friends who like them for who they are. And the people trying to become cool and fit in, well I remember being there too."  
"You're such a good person. I am just glad I haven't sent anyone to the hospital recently."  
"Temper, huh? My brother had quite a temper. But then he got married and it slowly started to smooth out."  
"So I have to wait till I'm married?"  
She laughed and patted my knee.  
"You'll get there, champ. Keep working at it and don't give up."  
"What do you want to do with your life?"  
"It's kinda set out for me. But if I had my way, I would be a counselor or therapist."  
"What do you mean, it's set out for you?"  
"Um. You know, my dad wanted me to do certain things with my life. Get married. Have kids. Etc. you know how dads are."  
"Uh, not really." Before I finished my sentence, Sue came up with our food. Or the first few plates of it. We didn't talk much as we ate ravenously. I was impressed at how much food she put away.  
"Got a hollow leg there, Lake?"  
"Hey I'm not making fun of how much you're eating."  
I laughed.  
"Lake?" I don't know what I wanted to say. I just wanted her to look at me with those mysterious grey eyes again.  
"What?" She said, through a mouthful of food, not looking up.  
"Do you want desert?"  
"Um, sure. Finish your dinner first though."  
I ordered some pie. Sue has some really good pies. I got a slice of apple and a slice of blueberry.  
We scraped our dinner plates clean before the pie came. When Sue put it on the table, Lake immediately stuck her fork into the blueberry one and took a bite.  
"Hey!"  
She looked up at me.  
"What?"  
"I wanted that one."  
I growled playfully. Is that a thing? If it wasn't, it is now. She looked thoughtful for a second. Then she shrugged and took another bite.  
"Whatcha gonna do ta stop me?"  
"That sounds like a challenge, oh queen."  
"It is. You have no claim over my pie. What do you have to say for yourself?"  
"I ordered it."  
"Irrelevant."  
"I. Want. Blueberry."  
"I. Don't. Care."  
"You should."  
"Make me." I swooped down right before she put the next bite into her mouth so that she accidentally stuck it in mine mouth instead. I smiled innocently.  
"Ooh, you sir, are going to regret that."  
She smirked and slid her pie across the table. She then got out from under my arm and sat down in the booth across from me. I missed having her beside me, but I bit back my grunt and pretended to have no reaction. I know she saw through it though. She slowly took another bite, teasing me. I'm not sure what she was aiming for more, making me miss her, the pie, of both. She chewed slowly and licked her lips seductively. I rested my chin on my hands as I just watched her, completely forgetting we had another piece of pie to eat.  
"Like what you see?"  
"Mm hmm. Love it."  
"Want a bite?"  
"Of which?"  
"You tell me."  
"You're a tease."  
"How about that?"  
"I want a bite." I opened my mouth and she shoveled the last few blueberries in. We both laughed then, we looked crazy with our purple lips and teeth.  
"There's another piece of pie."  
We laughed at our own dramatics.  
"Wanna split it?"  
"What the hey."  
The last piece of pie vanished and we downed the last of our drinks. I paid for our meal despite Lake's attempt to stop me. We said bye to Sue and walked outside. The sudden downpour had passed and the air smelled clean and fresh. I didn't have a car with me, so we just kinda walked aimlessly through parking lots.  
"Where's your house?" I finally asked.  
"I live with my brother and his wife right on the beach."  
"Want me to walk you there?"  
"Mhm. I need a big guy to protect me from the hungry wolves in the forest." Even though it was almost dark, I could feel her smirk.  
"Pick me up tomorrow and we can go for a hike. King and queen of the forest."  
"I'd like that." A lot.  
We reached the beach and Lake led me to her brother's house. There was a porch light on, and under the porch swing were a tshirt and a pair of shorts. I smiled as I thought of the similar set of clothes I had stashed literally everywhere. With a temper like mine, I had to be ready to phase in a second. I thought back through the week. I met Lake on Monday at school. Didn't lose my temper. Later I was irritated at Embry, but I wouldn't call it angry. Same on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Today, Saturday, I felt good. Even though I was rolled out of bed at an unearthly hour, I managed to keep my temper. What is she doing to me?  
Lake was sitting on the swing, watching me curiously. When I snapped out of my daze she smiled.  
"What's going through that pretty head of yours?"  
"Are you... When I'm with you... How can... I haven't lost my temper since Monday. That's a record. Most I can go is a day or two. What are you doing to me?"  
"I'm not doing anything. It's all you."  
"Why haven't I been able to control myself before now?"  
"Not sure. Maybe you haven't had a real reason?"  
I say beside her, swinging a little and enveloping her small frame. Her breath was steady against my chest. We heard a howl in the woods. Jacob. Bella had probably left him for the night. I frowned. That girl used him, and didn't care how much her actions hurt. All of us wolves though, felt his pain each time she rejected him. Wolf joint mind brought us closer in spite of ourselves.  
Lake pressed her lips against my warm and still bare chest.  
"What was that for?"  
"For being a nice guy. Behind your anger, nobody sees what a cool person you are. Deep down."  
Her breath was warm and sent a weird tingle down my spine. I wanted to kiss her.  
But just then, a head poked out the door. A head I assume belongs to her brother. Moment: ruined.  
"Hey, Joel." She tipped her head to look at him. I felt a little weird still hugging his little sister, but she didn't move, so I'm guessing he was cool?  
"Lake, you're still up? This is Paul?"  
"Yeah, hi. Sorry to keep her out so late."  
"You're fine, I know she can take care of herself if you get... Fresh."  
"Joel..." Lake started giggling but I could feel her face heat up.  
"Anyways, little lady, it's high time you went to bed." And with that, the head disappeared and we were alone again. Wow. Very cool brother.  
"Your brother is surprisingly okay. Does he always just let you do your thing?"  
"Yeah, pretty much. He's pretty chill. I'm glad that even though he's my legal guardian, he doesn't get all gung ho over protecting me."  
"Your parents aren't around?"  
"My mom left a little after I turned five, and my dad died a few years back. Since I'm still a minor, my brother is my next of kin or whatever."  
"Oh. I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. I've come to realize being sad and moping around isn't helpful to anyone, and my dad would've wanted me to be happy and live life to the fullest."  
"That's pretty awesome. I haven't been able to do that. I'm still mad at my dad for leaving my mom."  
"He did?"  
"Yeah, I never met him. Took off right after my mom told him she was pregnant."  
"Wow, I'm really sorry. What a jerk."  
"Yup. But what can I do?"  
She kinda shrugged.  
"I should go inside before my chill bro gets not so chill. See you tomorrow?"  
"Course." I stood up with Lake still in my arms. She pulled a little.  
"I can't go in unless you release me..."  
"Oh sorry." I let go and she laughed.  
"You're okay, Paul. It was fun hanging out with you today."  
"Yep I had a great time. I can't wait for tomorrow. You know, because I just love hiking so much.."  
"M hm, sure. Well, goodnight Paul."  
I smiled, leaning closer. She raised an eyebrow, and the word friends echoed weirdly in my mind. Screw friends. Lake wasn't stopping me, so I just went for it, gently pressing my lips on hers. She put an arm around my neck and one around my waist. Then she bit down on my lip, surprising me and causing my eyelids to fly open. I cant say I didn't like it. She pulled back a split second after and smirked at me.  
"Seeya, Paul." I stared dumbly, watching her go inside. She gave me a little wink right before shutting the door. What?  
I went home in a flurry of confusion. Friends? Kissing, biting, smirks, winks. She was more than just a friend and she knew it. She was so flirting with me and daaaayum, if I wasn't a willing subject. When I rolled into bed, all I could think of were her mysterious eyes, winking at my from the darkness behind the door. Those big grey orbs, daring me to kiss her, or challenging me to fight her. I couldn't wait till tomorrow. I was going to figure this girl out if it's the last thing I do. And it might actually be the last thing I do.

 **The next chapter! I hope you like! :) comment, favorite and follow me please! Who knows, I might just follow you back...**  
 **And as always, I'm not SM, nor do I own any characters aside from Lake.**


	4. Chapter 4

Lone white wolf

First thing that came into my mind the next morning was the mysterious grey-eyed girl. And weirdly enough, I found she had ripped the blankets off of me and was now perched on me, drawing lines around my abs with her fingers. She watched me open my eyes with a smirk on her face.

"You even sleep shirtless." It was true, I was only wearing sweatpants.

"Lake? What are you doing here?"

"Good morning sunshine. I just came from eating a nice hot breakfast made by your mother. She sent me up to get yo' hot lazy ass outta bed."

"So you think I'm hot. She thinks I'm hot!" I said, half jokingly, but genuinely pleased.

"Uh huh, sure. So get up."

"Kiss me first."

"Ew, morning breath..."

"Come on, you know you want to..." I made a goofy kissy face.

"Okay, hotstuff, you want me? You gotta catch me." My eye widened as she climbed off me.

"Wait, for real? You're mine if I catch you?"

"If, key word." But I was already out of bed, and chasing her down the hall and out of the house.

"Paul, don't chase girls!" Ah, dear mother. If you only knew.

"'Sa dare, mom!" I gave her a kiss on the cheek as I tore out the door into our yard. Damn, Lake was fast! She got into the forest and I kicked it up a notch. Werewolf speed. She glanced behind her, eyes wide. Then she took off even faster. Dang! I took a chance, and pushing myself past what I knew was my limit, I finally got within five feet and pounced. She and I fell, hitting the ground with an oomph. But laughing, she sat up.

"Wow, you caught me. Must've had some real motivation there."

"Oh only the girl I can't stop thinking about."

"Ah. Sounds like someone wants a kiss." My eyes opened wide. She was offering now?

"What happened to just friends?"

"Oh so now you don't want me?"

"No!" I said, a little too fast. She burst out laughing.

"You're too easy, Paul."

"And you're a fuckin tease."

"Sue me."

"Open and shut case. Payment, breakfast with said hotstuff and kisses."

"That's it? Well, okay..."

"Wait, I could've asked for more?"

"You'll never know."

"Damn! Come on...?" I gave her my best puppy dog face. She just laughed.

"Nope! You had your chance, hotstuff." I frowned.

"You're mean." I realize how childish that sounded after I said it.

I growled.

"I caught you. You're mine."

"Paul, women are not objects."

"You said."

"I asked if you wanted me. I didn't say I would be yours."

I growled again. I slammed my lips down on her, kissing her hard. She seemed a little surprised, but not much.

"Paul..." She moaned. I moved across her jawline down her neck.

"Paul. Hey. Hey!" I reluctantly stopped.

"What?"

"Your mom is gonna think we're having sex out here. I mean, she wouldn't be too far off, especially if you got your way. But she's waiting." I groaned, it was getting seriously annoying, being interrupted. Lake stood, holding out her hand to me. I took it and stood as well, bringing her hand up to my face and kissing it.

"It'll be hard for me, but if I'm going too far, tell me and I'll stop."

"I know you will, Paul." We walked back to my house, swinging our hands between us. When we went inside, my mom was watching TV, her back to us.

"Have a nice run?"

"Morning, mom." I pulled Lake over to the couch and plopped down with her on my lap.

"So I'm guessing you two are a thing now? Or is Paul just being an asshole?" She winked at Lake, making me wonder what was said this morning while I was asleep.

"Mom..." But Lake just laughed.

"Paul definitely has the hots for me, don'tcha?" I grunted. Confident little vixen. She and my mom both laughed.

"Well, I already knew that. Are you going out today?"

"We wanted to go on a hike, you know, in the woods past Forks?"

"It's getting a little dangerous out there, have you thought this through, Paul?"

Even though my mom knew I was a wolf, and accepted it, she still wasn't sure about how good I was.

"Yeah, mom. We'll be fine. You'd be surprised at how strong Lake is, too."

"Really? Have you taken martial arts?"

"No, my dad used to wrestle with me and my brother. I can pin Paul down." My mom raised her eyebrows.

"She can? Wow... I like you, Lake. Can you come over every now and then and kick Paul's ass for me?"

"I'd be happy to." She tucked her feet up and smiled at me.

"You know, I'm right here. She only did that once, it was just a fluke!"

"Uh huh. Wanna wrestle me again?"

"Right now?"

"Later. After you've eaten. I don't want to have any unfair advantages over you..." She looked deep into my eyes and an image of her kissing down my neck popped into my head for a split second.

And heck if I wouldn't surrender to that.

"Oh Paul, there's a stack of pancakes for you on the counter. Lake helped make them."

"You cook a lot?" I asked Lake.

"Mm, sometimes. If I have a good reason."

"Am I a good reason then?"

"Maybe.." Lake smirked at me, and I knew I would never get the better of her. No matter how hard I tried... which was a little weird but strangely, I didn't mind.

My mom stood then, stretching her arms above her head. She was strangely cool about me and Lake. I would give my pinky toe to know what they talked about this morning.

"I should go get ready to go to work. You kids behave yourselves, okay? Nothing life-threatening or stupid if you can help it." I still felt bad that my salary from the elders wasn't enough to pay the bills, but mom refused to let me get another job. Which I was kinda glad about. Balancing school and patrol was hard enough.

"Mkay, Mrs. Lahote."

"Sarah, how many times do I have to tell you?" Mom jokingly rolled her eyes.

"Right, Sarah. Have a good day, say hi to Sue for me."

"Will do, sweetie." Mom left us alone and soon started the shower.

"So... what's on the agenda for today?" I asked Lake, who apparently was the boss around here.

"I dunno, what do you want to do? Hiking, swimming, cliff diving, running, wrestling, talking, watching TV, gardening and cleaning are your choices."

"Those all sound boring."

"Tough luck, champ."

"Fine. Let's go hiking. After breakfast."

"Okay, while you eat breakfast and get dressed, and I do expect you to get dressed, I'm going to get ready myself."

And with that she was gone.

I decided to call Sam to ask for advice. About what, I didn't know.

"Hey Em, is Sam around?"

"No, do you want me to ask him something?"

"Nah... are any of the other guys there?"

"Quil's here, downing my food like it's going out of style. Wanna talk to him?"

"Sure."

"Sup."

"Quil, how... when... um, I have no idea what I want to know."

"Ah. Must be about a girl then." Woah... when did Quil get so insightful?

"Yeah. Lake, remember her? Grey eyes, lunchroom?"

"Yeah, sure. You got a crush on her?"

"Go ahead, make fun of me, I'll wait till you're done."

"This is serious. Have you imprinted on her?"

"With my luck? No."

"What if you do imprint while you're with her? It'll be Sam and Leah all over again."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. See, the thing is, I don't have to be my imprint's boyfriend. Just her protector. So I could imprint while I'm with Lake, and just kinda... adopt them as a little sister or something. No drama. You know, like you and Claire."

"Wow. You've really thought this through. Either you're way smarter than we all thought, or you just really, _really_ like this girl."

"I doubt I'm that smart, it's just the thought of being with Lake..."

"I know, I know. I've been stuck on patrol with you, remember? Now I know why I irritate the other guys so much with Claire. Lake must be really special."

"She is. She's really thoughtful with other people, everyone in school is her best friend. But she has a badass, sassy side too. I dunno. I can't explain it. She's just really... I find her sexy in a really cute way."

"Huh. I find Claire cute in a really cute way."

"That's... good... Anyway, Lake's coming back any minute so I need to get my butt moving. Seeya, bro."

"Go catch that tiger, later."

I hung up and stood up. I put on a tshirt and pair of shorts and went into the bathroom. Since I'm a werewolf, I'm kinda frozen in time, so I don't need to shave that often. I washed my face and brushed my teeth - apparently Lake hates morning breath, so...

As I was tying my sneakers, I was thinking out loud about what I had told Quil.

"What if I do imprint? What would happen to Lake? I really want her to stick around, she's... super sexy-Hi..." I was so preoccupied I didn't notice Lake standing in the doorway until it was too late. Cue Lake smirk.

"Sexy?"

"Yeah, you know... confident and badass.." I backpedaled a little. I added quietly, "And gorgeous. Isn't that what sexy means?"

She sat down on the bed beside me, sighing.

"Not sure, Paul, I'm not sure. Who knows."

"Are you okay?" She sucked in a deep breath, standing up.

"Yep! Let's go!" She winked and held out her hand. Wha? I looked at her, trying to figure her out.

"Okay then... hiking?" She pulled me up and laced her fingers through mine.

"Mhm, we can eat lunch at Sue's or something."

"I'm down for whatever you want." And with that, we started our journey, the sun shining through the gaps in the trees overhead. What a great day for it to be sunny.

 **Well? Whady'all think? LMK!**

 **I'd like to start putting a question up for debate here, like at the end of each chapter, or every few chapters or something? Idk.**

 **I'll just go with it and see what happens, lol.**

 **Who's the all around best werewolf and why?**

* * *

 **UPDATE: I haven't been getting reviews/comment/anything... =(  
**

 **I'd like some feedback before I post the next chapter, as there are a couple of events that I'm not quite sure on, so please review!**

 **~Sonja**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

 **A/N sorry it's been so long! Enjoy!**

It had only been an hour or so when Lake pointed out a nice spot in a clearing for us to sit. She smirked as she pulled out a basket from the trees. Sneaky little girl packed us a picnic...

"Surprise..." Small pieces of my heart broke themselves off from the hole and sent themselves to Lake. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Yeah...

We started eating the sandwiches, chips and salad she'd packed.

"So tell me, what did your dad do?" I asked.

"Work of for fun?"

"Either."

"Well he was a ranger in our forest. We lived down in Oregon when I was growing up. Then mom died, and it was really hard on dad. He didn't take care of himself, he took care of my brother and me. We tried, but after about a year, he died. We both saw it coming, but it was still tough."

"I'm sorry. You loved him?"

"More than anything. He was my role model. I moved with my brother and his wife up here three years ago, when I was a freshman. We're basically doing part-time work now, nothing permanent until after I graduate. We'll decide what to do then. We might end up moving back to Oregon."

"Depending on what?" She can't move! I just met her!

"The Quileute tribe, Joel is talking to the elders about working for them. Can you hand me a root beer?"

"Working?" I gave her a bottle and the opener. "For old Quil, Harry and Billy?"

"Yeah, you'd have to talk to him about what this job is, though."

"Seems shady…" I work for them, yeah, but I explode into a giant wolf, what does Joel think he can do?

"Yeah, kind of. But let's not be so serious, it's too nice of a day. What are your plans for summer?"

"Work? I guess, I don't know. I don't really have a lot of options. What about you?"

"It depends on if Joel gets the job, so I don't know either."

"If you could do anything, what would it be?"

"Oh, that's tough. I would probably hang out with my friends a lot, do some cliff diving, hiking, reading, take an art class, figure out what the heck I'm doing in my life… I'm a simple girl, I know what I like, what I want, who I am… and I've accepted it. What about you?"

"Wait, what do you mean, accepted what? You're not sick or dying are you?" Lake is being cryptic once more. She laughed.

"No, I'm perfectly healthy." She's perfectly everything.

"Lake, I want to be honest with you." She looked scared.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"I've only known you for a week, but I really like you. You're the only person that puts up with my temper, which, for some reason, around you is basically gone. I don't know what you do to me, but I love it. It would be really bad for everyone if you left or didn't let me hang out with you. My friends… well they kind of hate me 90% of the time, and I know I deserve it. But I feel different around you. It's easy."

"Every person has something good in them, I just find it and bring it to the light. That's what I do."

"You're fantastic. You're someone special."

"Everyone is. That's just what _I_ do for people."

"What's the good in me?" She paused to think.

"You… you're very passionate. And independent at the same time. You don't need other people to complete you, but if you find someone, you hold tight."

"Am I holding you tight?"

"Very."

"I don't want to let go."

"Don't let me go."

This answer surprised me. Lake was independent. She didn't need anyone. I leaned over the good and wrapped her up in my arms. I remembered that second in my room where she didn't seem so confident. Every now and then, Lake needs someone. Even the most solid, capable person needs support sometimes. Lake's breathing was slow and even against my arm, and she put her head on my chest. I'm sure she could hear my heart beating. A second or two later, she pulled back, her eyes looking watery like she had been about to cry. I can't figure her out. I don't understand it, but I love it. I love her free spirit. I love her face. I love her confidence. I love her warmth. I love her friendliness. I love her strength. I love her calm. I love her independence. I love this side I don't see that often.

I can't figure her out, but I won't stop trying.

Lake had pulled up some songs on her phone that we both liked. She sang softly to the gut-wrenching ballad and I felt another little piece of my heart break off and ship itself to Lake. She was leaning back on one elbow, her other hand running through my hair. Everything was how it should be. Quiet, peaceful, no magic or anything to shatter the moment. I didn't even mind when I felt a drop of water hit my nose. She took her hand from my head and held it out to see how fast the drops were coming. I grunted involuntarily. She laughed and leaned forward to kiss my nose. I put my hand on the back of her head to bring her lips closer. She whispered,

"Mountains or beach?" Lake looked totally serious, her lips brushing against mine and her breath dusting over my face. I opened my mouth to answer but she was so close and smelled so good... I lost my train of thought and said,

"You." My voice was husky and quiet.

She giggled. She was laughing at my response, so I'm guessing I didn't answer the question. My eyes closed. Drops came down faster and I brought Lake closer. Zaps of electricity pulsated through my body, starting in my stomach, then up to quicken my heartbeat, then out my fingertips and toes. I have never had that before. And I've never ever wanted a kiss so badly in my life. I eliminated the remaining gap and pressed my lips to hers, my knees bending and my toes curling from the sparks. Every time I kiss her everything is more intense. My very bones were vibrating. I don't care if she's not my imprint. I want her to stay with me forever. I wonder if she feels anything for me. Even a fraction of the intensity I'm getting just by kissing her. The rain was official, not just a chance couple of drops. I could tell it was a weird position for Lake to be bending in, so I sat up and twisted so that our feet pointed in opposite directions. Kissing in the rain. How cliché. Butterflies in my stomach. How cheesy. Instant connection. How iconic. Interrupted. How irritating. A noise in the surrounding trees brought both of us to our feet in an instant. I instinctively took her hand, before it was ripped away from me as something white shoved her backwards and into a tree. I stood, shocked for a second, watching her face flash through surprise, indecision and then to determination. And in a split second she was beside me, the leech looking profoundly confused. I'm sure I did too. I looked at Lake, whose attention was divided between gauging my reaction and watching the bloodsucker. He was ready to attack.

"Phase!" She shouted, and I obeyed, strangely forced to change into a giant wolf, similar to Sam's alpha command. As I stood on four legs instead of two, however, Lake had disappeared, and beside me instead stood a mass of white fur.

"Attack." She thought at me, and I leaped at the stone-still vampire, Lake helping me to take him down. We didn't get hurt much, since the shock factor incapacitated the leech for a few strategic seconds. He was thoroughly dismembered when we heard the two patrolling wolves enter the clearing.

"We need a lighter."

"You did that yourself, Paul?"

"Get that arm away from the shoulder." Embry and Quil.

I was so shocked.

"Yeah, burn it. No, I wasn't alone, I had my... I had Lake with me."

"Dude, you're hallucinating. Your Lake isn't here." I liked how he called her "my Lake."

We all phased back and burned the remains of the leech.

"She was here, this is her stuff she left. See?"

"What were you doing out here?" I blushed. Hard.

"...Eating?"

"Your lips are still swollen, Paul, is she a good kisser?"

"Your blush betrays you, dude."

"Yeah... she kissed me... and none of your business."

"Well we'll get it out of you at some point. Isn't she the girl you've been with all week?"

"The one who is _not_ your imprint?"

"I don't care if she isn't. I couldn't care less what the fates or ancestors or whatever say. She's... she's..." I sighed at the memory of her. Cue sparks. And darker blush. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. I must have a dumb smile on my face because both Quil and Embry were speechless. Quil looked worried.

"Paul, are you okay? I've never seen you so... happy... and smiling... and you haven't been angry since... like, Tuesday."

"Yeah man, and you're scarin me, what's wrong with you?"

"I don't... I don't know. I have no idea, I've never been so happy. Or happy at all, really." I ran my fingers through my hair, missing Lakes'. Quil started smiling again.

"Paul, you're in love. Normal, healthy, non-wolfy love."

Embry smiled sadly.

"You're lucky, man. And you're lucky she's a she."

"Oh my gosh. Oh gosh. Oh no." This was getting super messy as I started putting pieces together.

"You're in love, Paul, that's natural." Embry sounds so jealous and I can't blame him at all.

"I'm so screwed."

Quil frowned.

"Embry, your white wolf... well he's a she. Lake is the white werewolf." Embry looked at me in disbelief. I could read his thoughts as he went through them.

"You're crazy. But the leech. Paul couldn't take him down solo... Lake _was_ here. Paul and Lake took him out. Lake is a lone wolf. I imprinted on a lone wolf. Paul wouldn't kid about this. Paul... Paul! Paul's been with my imprint, and he kisses her... Paul is stealing MY girl." So I wasn't surprised when he lunged at me, phasing right before he hit me. I blocked his mouth from closing around my neck by socking him in the jaw. Quil phased too, making sure we wouldn't kill each other, but not stopping us from fighting.

I was used to this. It wasn't uncommon for me to get mad and attack a brother. I had the upper hand on Embry with size and skill-wise. A flash of white blurred my vision, and we both froze at her command. "Stop." Since she's technically an alpha, she couldn't hear our thoughts to her, and only hers went through. She vanished and came back a minute later, dressed. She turned her back to us.

"Phase back and put some clothes on." We did as she told us.

"I'm sorry, Lake." I started going to her, but she put up her hand to stop me. She looked at Embry.

"So you imprinted on me." Embry was still staring at her in a daze. She looked at Quil, still in wolf form.

"So he imprinted on me." Quil nodded his massive head.

"Why didn't I feel it?" Quil shrugged, gesturing to me with his nose. I can just hear him saying, "Paul's the one with the ideas, ask him."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. I melted. I took one look in her eyes, and I froze. I couldn't speak. She rolled her eyes.

"You need to help me, please phase." She turned her back while Quil phased back.

"Paul! Snap out of it." He smacked the back of my head, going over to Embry to do the same.

"What's your name?" Lake asked.

"Quil."

"Quil."

"Yeah, like the pen."

"Okay.."

"Hey, I didn't name myself. And you're one to talk, Lake."

"Cool, yeah, Quil. Mkay, his name?"

"Idiot. Or Embry."

"Embry!" He was still staring at her. She threw up her hands, exasperated.

"Paul, can you talk yet?"

"Yeah." My voice squeaked a little and Quil laughed.

"I'm sorry, Lake, I wish you were my imprint. I wish so, so hard. You've no idea. But I'm not. He is."

I pointed to Embry. I sighed, standing up and hugging Lake. She patted my head.

"The Fates chose him. I don't know why or how, but they did. I wonder why I didn't feel it."

"What if..." All eyes went to me, still hugging Lake closely. Embry looked murderous.

"Only the guy feels it. That would make sense with Sam and Emily. And Claire... well, nobody really knows what goes on in her head..." Quil smiled fondly.

"Well, I'd like to talk to Sam about joining your pack, first, and my brother... and yeah, get that sorted out first. Don't kill each other while I'm not here." And she disappeared again. I need to ask her about that.

I turned to see Quil waving his hand in front of Embry's face. Embry still looked stunned. A second later, as he blinked, a tear ran down his face and a smile formed on his lips.

"She's a girl. I'm okay. I imprinted on a girl not a dude." Quil smiled.

"Yeah, man, a pretty girl. The guys'll have nothing to make fun of you for now. I'm meeting up with Em to take Claire pretty soon, Paul could you take over the last part of my shift?

I nodded. Quil phased and loped off to pick up his beloved Claire.

Embry and I sat down, not speaking. He finally broke the silence.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. The fates chose you."

"But she'll chose you. She's falling for you, man, can't you see it? She'll have to decide who she wants, and we don't know when that'll be. She wants to get the rest of her life sorted out first."

"Truce?" I held my hand out.

"Truce. No fighting, she decides." We shook on it.

We both phased to finish patrolling.

"Tell me about her."

"Are you sure?" I didn't want it to seem like I was rubbing my time with Lake in his face.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

 **What do you think? Any theories? I'd love to hear them, take a sec and send me a review! ^.^ thanks for reading!**

 **Here's a question: Team Jake or Team Edward and why?**

 **Review responses:**

 **Jessie the twilight girl: Aw thank you! That's what I'm going for... ;)**

 **rebeccakent95: Yay! I'm hoping to update again soon, I have the next chapter written, just not edited yet :P**

 **FanFicChikk: Haha who doesn't love Seth... what is the appeal with Paul... I don't get it but I love him anyway... o.o**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this! Sorry for leaving you hanging, I hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

Jared and Collin phased in, and Embry told them about the vamp attack, "accidentally" letting it slip that Lake was his imprint. They were both in awe that 1, she was a girl, and 2, that she was a pretty girl. I went back home to start on my homework. But after half an hour of thinking about Lake, I decided to take a walk and come back fresh. My walk took me directly to Lake's house... which was unintentional. I saw through the window Joel, his wife and Lake sitting down for dinner. Joel saw me. Shoot. I didn't run, even though I really wanted to.

"Paul, right?" I nodded. I had the same reaction to him as any guy would have to meeting his girl's dad.

"Is Lake your imprint?"

"No."

"But she has one." It wasn't really a question.

"One of the guys in my pack imprinted on her, but she never felt it."

"Really. Weird. Well, have you eaten? My wife made extra, she figured you or Lake's imprint would come by."

Lake and food. Um, is this a valid question?

"No I haven't. Thanks." I followed him in. Mom wouldn't be home for a couple hours yet.

"Emma, this is Paul." Emily talked about Emma, they'd met in the grocery store recently and really hit it off. Em was constantly raving about Emma's cooking.

She was putting plates on the table, scooping large amounts of food onto them. It did smell better than Emily's cooking... I'm impressed, Em must be right.

"Hi Emma." I smiled at her.

"Hey Paul. Have a seat."

Lake looked at me, her expression telling me over and over 'just friends. Just friends.'

"Hi Lake." She smiled a guarded smile at me. This was so awkward.

"So have you talked to Sam about joining the pack?"

"A little. Didn't come to any conclusions." Silence. Emma smiled encouragingly at me. We started eating. In silence.

"This is great, honey. As always." Joel broke the quiet temporarily.

"I agree, it's even better than Emily's food."

"Thanks." She blushed a little, and I don't think she liked being praised over her new-found friend. I didn't say anything else.

We finished and Joel and Emma cleared everything away in record time, refusing Lake and my offers to help them. Lake got up and left the room quietly. I followed her out, it was pretty clear Joel and Emma planned on giving us some space. Lake was sitting on the couch.

"Mind if I sit here?" She shook her head, tucking her feet under herself so I could sit beside her.

She was rubbing her temples.

"You okay?"

"I have a headache." I pulled her against me and brushed my fingers through her hair, hoping it would be as soothing to her as it was to me. She seemed to relax a little.

"So you can do this thing, like blipping from here to somewhere else."

"Yup."

"How? Why can't any other wolves do that?"

"Long story short, my dad was a shape-shifter, my mom was a fae spirit. She could transport too."

"So you're not half human. Like at all. That's cool."

"Comes in handy."

"And Joel?"

"He can too."

"Did he imprint on Emma?"

"Nope. He never ended up imprinting." That gives me hope...

"I'm sorry, Paul, I need to go to bed. I'm gonna fall asleep."

"Fighting vamps takes a lot out of you." I helped her up.

"Night, Paul." She started walking away, but I caught her by her hand, pulling her into me.

"I won't let go, Lake. I promise." I kissed the inside of her wrists and her temple as I hugged her tight.

"Just friends, Paul."

"I know. It's okay, Embry and I aren't going to fight over you, it's your call." I felt her inner feminist smile.

"Goodnight, Paul." I kissed her head once more before she left, and I whispered after her,

"I promise."

Monday Morning:

I rolled over and hit the snooze button. I'd only gotten back from patrol three hours ago. School wasn't that important, right? Ten minutes later it went off again, I shut it off. Every day, the same thing. It was only after I realized that school meant Lake that I leaped up and got in the shower. After getting dressed, I went into the kitchen and found my mom at the table. I scarfed down a bowl of cereal, in a hurry to see Lake.. I mean learn at school...

"How are you feeling, Bud? You didn't get much sleep..."

"I'm fine, Mom. Don't worry." I jumped up as soon as I was done and grabbed my backpack.

"What's the big hurry?"

"Um... I'm running late and I already have way too many tardy slips."

"That's never bothered you before..."

"Kinda wanna graduate, Mom. And Lake... you know." I ran past her out the door before she started asking me questions... like how deep was I in with the whole Lake situation... or did I love her... or things like that.

I found Seth sitting on the hood of my car.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

"I phased today." I did a double take at him as I threw my backpack in the backseat.

"Woah, how old are you?" He seemed young for phasing...

"I'm 16. I couldn't find Sam but Jake was there. And Leah left without me. Must be all the vampire activity and the Cullens."

"How do you know all this? Get in." I started the car. Seth is weirdly chill about turning into a dog.

"Legends, plus my dad is a council member, you don't think he knew I'd phase?" I looked over at him as I pulled up to a stop sign.

"You're happy."

"Always. What do I have not to be happy about?"

"You turn into a giant dog. You'll spend the rest of your now infinite life running circles around the res, until you meet her. Then you'll run circles around the res AND around her."

"Is that how you see it? No wonder you're always mad. I can turn into a giant wolf at will, making me a mythical creature. I can protect my friends and family and get automatically super buff. I don't have to worry about dying from old age for as long as I want. My girl is set out for me, I don't have to work through numerous relationships until I decide we might possibly get along and marry her. I'll know she's the right one the second our eyes meet. All my cuts and bruises heal super fast, too, not that I'll hurt myself as much, since now I have great balance and coordination. Yeah, this whole situation sucks."

"You're such an optimist."

"Guilty as charged." I laughed a little, shaking my head.

"You're all right, kid." We pulled up to the school and got out, going our separate ways. I met up with Embry in my first class.

"Ay, man. I can't find Lake. You think she's gossiping in the girls' room?"

"Nah, she doesn't gossip. She's probably avoiding you."

"I just want to talk to her... I still haven't."

"What makes you think you'll be able to talk?"

"Shock's worn off. I've accepted it and now I'm fine."

"Did you really think you were gay?" He laughed.

"No, I like girls too much. I figured the fates messed up."

"What's it like to live without knowing your imprint?"

"It's the worst, man. I hope you never have to go through that, and I don't even like you. What's it like, being in love?"

"It's the best... and the worst. All at once. I don't know how to describe it. I think everyone should be in love, but at the same time, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone."

"Well, thanks. That clarifies things..."

"It has a lot to do with whether or not she's in love you too..."

"And is she?" Embry bit his lip. What must it be like, to have your imprint be in love with someone else?

"Sometimes... I think she is. Like she'd kiss me first, sorry man, or come to my house and make me breakfast, or plan a picnic for us... But then sometimes I don't think she is. Like right now. I'm dying to see her but she's probably avoiding me too."

"She made you breakfast? Nice..."

"Yeah, it was great. I woke up that morning and she was sitting on me. Best thing ever."

"Just sitting on you?"

"Yeah. Brushing her fingers over my stomach... do you think she likes me?"

"Well she probably likes your abs... I dunno, girls are confusing."

I nodded as the teacher came in. I didn't see Lake all day. I'm sure she was avoiding me. I went home and started on my homework, but I got distracted. Missing Lake day 1. I went to her house but Emma told me she was negotiating with Sam. So I went to Sam's house. Em told me Sam wasn't there but gave me a cookie for the road. I thanked her and left. I figured it was a long shot, but I phased to make sure they weren't in wolf form. I didn't know where they could be. I guess they know I'd try to find them so purposefully went somewhere that I wouldn't think of. Still in wolf form, I tried tracking Lake's heavenly scent. Nothing. I phased back and went back in the direction of my house. About a mile away, I ran into Embry. Also looking for Lake.

"Aye man. Out for a stroll?" He looked concerned.

"You miss Lake too, huh?" He nodded sheepishly.

"I want to see what she's like. I'm wondering how the negotiations are going too."

"Same. When will it be cleared up?"

"You do realize one of us is going to get his heart broken. Rushing her decision is only bringing that closer." We sat down on my porch steps.

"Yeah. Which is stronger, the imprint bond or whatever she and I have?"

"Well she didn't even feel it. I bet she doesn't even miss me now, either. We've barely met."

"I don't know, Emb. Imprinting is pretty serious. Look at you now, barely met but you miss her a lot, huh? Why do the fates screw up our lives like this?"

"Oh did you find out how she zaps in and out of places?"

"Yeah, she's half Quileute, half fae spirit. Her mom was a fae. Apparently, they can do that... Her brother can do it too."

"She's just loaded with supernatural."

"Yup."

"Today is Monday?" I nodded. "What a crappy Monday. I still have homework due I think I'll go now."

"Seeya, bro. Let me know if you see Lake."

"Sure." H walked off and I leaned against the pillar. He was right. As soon as Lake chose one of us, the other would be crushed. Taha Aki lost his imprint and he went off into the woods, never to be seen again. But Lake wasn't my imprint. Did I owe it to Embry to just not make Lake choose between us? Go out into the world to find my own imprint? Try to forget Lake? The feeling I had when I realized I was in love with her was too beyond words to explain. When I first looked into her eyes after realizing this, seeing her in a whole other light, not just as a girl I liked, but as the girl I was in love with. It... it did feel kinda like an imprint. But it's too late, I'd already looked into her eyes many times before. I couldn't have imprinted on her. Although... the imprints we knew about were all on humans. What if the fae blood messed with things? What if you have to be in love, or realize you're in love, or have kissed four or five times or be in the right cycle of the moon? I don't know, I'll consider anything. I would love to have Lake as my imprint. Love it. I would have to figure it out next time I see Lake. Which is hopefully tomorrow. Ugh. I got up. Time to do that dreaded homework.

Tuesday:

Lake was either not at school or completely avoiding me. I haven't seen her since Sunday. After school I went to her house, and only Emma was home. Joel was still at work and Lake hadn't gotten home yet. Emma had to leave to go shopping, so I decided to wait for Lake on the porch swing. I fully intended to stay there as long as it took, but a wretched howl summoned me to the woods. It turned out to be nothing, just a frightened hiker. But by then, my mom would be home, and I hadn't been around much lately. She would be lonely. I did homework while she watched the news. I had patrol, which I did mostly around Lake's house. Jake was on with me, and he was telling me all about some girl named Bella who came every now and then to watch him work because their dads were friends. He was majorly crushing on her. He thought the wolf thing would be too much for he, and Sam agreed, ordering him not to tell her. He was in turmoil keeping secrets from her. I bounced some of my theories off of him, and he thought they were plausible. I want to talk to Sam about everything, and see what he thinks. I am on Missing Lake day 2. Today is worse than yesterday. Maybe I'll eventually get used to not seeing her.

Wednesday:

Missing Lake day 3. Definitely not getting used to this. Lake is really good at not being found. I called her house, but Joel told me Lake wanted space, and that her message to both me and Embry was to back off and wait. Well, at least he was honest and didn't give me dumb excuses like Billy. I'm going to make a concentrated effort to find Lake at school tomorrow. I have to see her.

Thursday:

Going crazy, day 4. I don't know how long Lake plans to keep this up, but none of her friends had seen her. So basically nobody in school had seen her. One teacher told me she called in sick. I wondered if she was actually sick. But she wants space, so I won't go to her house to see her. It's getting harder to sleep at night, staring at the ceiling wondering if she's thinking about me at all. If she will pick me, or if my heart will be broken. I don't know how long she's planning on avoiding me, but I hope not much longer. My mom is getting worried about the circles growing darker under my eyes, and asked Sam to lighten up my patrol shifts so I'd get more sleep. I'm starting to lose weight from lack of sleep, my body keeps working full throttle through the night without rest and I can't possibly eat enough to sustain myself. I'm going to crack if this doesn't end soon.

Friday:

I haven't seen Lake for how long, now? I'm so tired thinking makes my head hurt. Mom is keeping me home from school today, telling the teachers it's a "work related illness." That's how bad I look. She gave me breakfast in bed, which she hasn't done since I was nine on my birthday. It happened to be on a Saturday. She called Sam to try to get Lake over here or something. Same told Joel, but Lake wasn't home at the time, and he said he'd tell her as soon as she got back. Embry came to check on me and although he looked a little worn, it was mostly from covering my runs.

"Jeez, man, you look bad. Are you okay?" I was sitting in the corner of my living room, wrapped in a blanket and my eyes were so dark it looked like I'd been punched. In both eyes.

"No. I've got to get out and see Lake. Was she in school today?"

"Nah, bro. Didn't see her. Wonder why you're having such a rough time but not me, I am her imprint."

"Dunno. Hurts to think. Ask me when I look normal." He grabbed my arm and hoisted me up.

"You're gonna go see her. Now. Your mom went to work, so she can't stop you from going out now. Get out of that blanket." He unwrapped me and dragged me over to a sink and splashed ice-cold water on my face. I yelled.

"There we go! Now off with you!" He tossed me a towel and I went outside. He locked the door behind me.

"Hey!"

"Ay, man, your mom's a good cook." He went into my kitchen, out of sight. I won't have any food left when I get back.

I started running to Lake's house, slowing to a fast walk when I got a headache. I was a little over halfway there when I saw my angel walking towards me, both of our faces lighting up. We held our arms out dramatically and yelled to each other "It hurts to run!" laughing as we realized we'd said the same thing.

My laugh halted as I got a very confused "Wut?" from Jared. I sank to the ground, my head throbbing as I hit the soil. Jared came and sat next to me.

"Bro, you okay? You look awful."

"I'm hallucinating now.. I'm going crazy. I'm in over my ears."

"What? What did you say to me anyway?"

"Hurts to run... thought you were Lake." I leaned forward, burying my head in my arms. I'm insane. Jared doesn't resemble Lake in any way, I literally saw something brown moving towards me and imagine Lake in the same zombie-like state that I'm in. Because I thought she'd be missing me just as much as I'm missing her. Wishful thinking.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I imprinted at school today... and she slapped my face for staring. Haven't gotten her to talk to me yet." I snapped out of my mourning to look at his face, finding it serious.

"What a great start, I'm sure you two'll be very happy together." Although, any other day I would have laughed my butt off, I'm too low for that now.

"Hey, lighten up, man. Not the end of the world. Go to her house, and shut up with the what ifs."

He got up and left, and I stood up slowly a few seconds later, ignoring the pounding in my head. I'm going to get inside her house whether she's there or not and sleep on her bed until she gets back. Well, okay. The couch.

When I got there, Emma was on her way out. She took one look at me and opened the door for me.

"You're sure she's not your imprint?"

"Yup. As hard as I've wished."

"You must really love her then." She got in her car and drove off. I went through the open door. The whole house smelled exactly as I remembered it. I looked around to see if anyone was home. I found a laundry room, the well stocked and impeccably clean kitchen, the couch we'd been sitting on the other day, Joel and Emma's room, and Lake's room. Her room was simple, a bed with plenty of pillows, a dresser, a chair and a desk. On top of her desk sat a few books, and a large array of drawing tools and other artistic-y stuff, including a half-finished drawing. There was a faint outline of a wolf howling at the moon, which I saw her start the other day when I found her on the rock in the forest. The main subject was a face. Familiar face, the one I see every time I look in a mirror. I was a little surprised that Lake had sketched me with such accuracy, and from memory. A glance over her floor showed more black and white sketches. One was the face of a wolf. One was a pair of downcast, suspiciously familiar eyes. Another was her view of my face from above, me laying down. It took me a second but I realized that she got that view the other day as she sang and combed her fingers through my hair. The next picture was also of me, looking aggressive but very turned-on. You could see from the top of my head all the way down my chest, and this one she was looking from above, me laying down. This was that day that we wrestled in the woods. The last picture was me at an angle up and sideways, eyes closed, leaning forward. Out first kiss in Sue's diner. One recurring theme in each sketch alarmed me. In every picture, I had been thinking about how far I've fallen, how fast. It was like she could read my mind and knew these moments were important to capture. Based on my expressions in her true-to-life renders, it's pretty easy to read me like a book: I love her, I want her, does she want me. But thinking about that now, I am very okay with her knowing what I was thinking. Even though she's not here, in her room, I feel like she is, and that comforts and relaxes me. I yawned. I'm so behind on sleep, I'll take the opportunity to get some shuteye. I went back to the living room and curled up on the couch.

 **I'm going to essplain some of the magikks in the next few chapters, I do have explanations for _I think_ everything... please leave a review!**

 **Review response:**

 **Daisuke-the-Skyhaven Prince: Thanks! I hope you like this one! .**


	7. Chapter 7

**HALF AN HOUR PASSED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER:**

I didn't want to move, I hadn't actually slept in so long. My eyelids were too heavy to lift, so I kept them closed, focusing in my ears on the voices.

"We just got back from meeting with Sam. Looks like I'll be able to join barring any – what's he doing here?" Barring any what?

Lake waited for Emma's response.

"He came to the house when I was heading out to Emily's and -"

"And you let him in? By himself? Emma..." Lake sounded irritated. Joel interrupted her.

"When did he get here?"

"About 45 minutes ago? I don't know..."

Lake continued,

"Emma why would you let a werewolf who isn't my imprint who you've met like twice into your house when nobody's home?" I've never heard Lake lose her calm. She must not be feeling good to lash out at Emma.

"Why would you do that, Emma?"

"Look at him! Look at what you're doing to him! He has dark circles under his eyes, he's lost about 20 pounds and looks like he hasn't shaved since probably the last time he saw you. You're killing him! He calls all the time, asking for you, and he comes here every day that he can, just to hear your voice or to see your face. Em says he hasn't been able to run because first of all, running makes his head throb and he can't see the ground in front of him, and second because he's in so much pain it literally knocks the other wolves off their feet when he phases."

Joel intervened.

"That's enough, Emma. Lake, you need to seriously consider your priorities. You haven't been eating well and you've been very irritable since Monday. That's not like you. You were much happier before you pushed Paul out of your life." I heard Lake sob. The sound felt like a knife thrust through my heart and instantly my eyes flew open and I sat up, even though my head pounded mercilessly and I got black spots in my vision. When I could again see clearly, I noticed Joel and Emma melting away into the kitchen and Lake sitting on the floor, face in hands. I got up and sat right beside her, enveloping her in my arms and holding her tight to my chest. I sighed, finally feeling better.

Lake and I just sat there, silent. No words were needed. I saw Emma watching from the other room, and I smiled at her. She smiled back as she withdrew.

Lake started to pull away, but I kept her in place. She relaxed into my embrace and our heartbeats slowly synced into a steady, natural rhythm.

"Paul?"

"Shh, baby, s'okay."

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Nobody's perfect, sweetheart. I've got you now, and we can figure out the next part when it comes." She sighed.

"If only it was that easy." She nuzzled into me, getting comfortable. My eyes closed and the zaps of electricity pulsated through me. It had been so long, I'd forgotten how intense the feeling was. Lake was content and still for all of 30 seconds before blipping away from my onto the couch. I whimpered.

"No, I don't deserve to be happy. I deserve to suffer after what I did to you." She still wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Well then punish yourself, not me!" I pouted, getting up to sit on the couch with her. She patted the seat beside her. I sat down and gathered her up in my arms, holding her to my chest and sitting her on my lap.

"I have a lot of make-up hugging." I explained to her confused look.

"Here's a great punishment, you have to be with me 24/7 so I don't lose you again." She laughed, her chest vibrating against my arms, zaps flowing freely through me.

"That's not a punishment." I pulled her even closer to me, the heartburn I'd felt all week slowly subsiding.

Joel came in then, followed by Emma with food. I felt weird being so affectionate with their little sister in front of them, but since Lake didn't move, I figured they mustn't have a problem with it.

"You two need to fatten up, you look awful." Emma offered us lemonade, cheese, crackers and fruit salad.

"Thanks, Emma. I get it now." Lake leaned her head on my chest, making me drown a loud sigh in my lemonade.

"And for the food too..." I added.

I owe a lot to Emma don't I...

"Glad it worked out." Emma handed Joel his glass of lemonade.

"I'm okay with you here for now, Paul, and I'll deal with... this..." He gestured to us sitting together. "But I'm in charge here, and once I say out, you've got one minute before I kick your butt off the premises. Got it?" I nodded. Joel got up and left, Emma set the tray of food down on the coffee table and followed him out. I looked down at Lake, into her big beautiful grey eyes.

She froze.

"Something wrong?"

She blinked a few times before shaking her head as if that would clear it.

"Lake?"

"I've looked at your eyes before, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, we saw each other's eyes before we spoke, remember? Why?"

"That's... that's what I thought." We looked at each other a little too long to just be friends. "But I think... I think I'm going crazy, never mind."

"What? You aren't making sense."

"Sorry, super tired. I'm gonna get out of my jeans really quick, be right back." She blipped out. I grunted, surprised. This whole transporting thing was something I had yet to get used to.

I got up to figure out where the bathroom was, and on my way back Lake was standing in her doorway. Behind her on the floor where the drawings of me were, she'd dropped her jeans, and the pictures were gone. She now stood in a pair of soft grey sweatpants.

"You were in my room?"

"...Yeah? I went in to see if you were there."

"You sat on my bed and looked at me dra-stuff."

Oh. She's embarrassed because I know she missed me and drew me, not once, but several times. Well I can understand that...

"Sweetheart, this is about your drawings?" She looked rather mad...

"My room is my room, if I'd wanted you to see those, I would have showed them to you." Valid argument.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin, I didn't think that one through. They were just there so I looked at them. When did you draw them all?"

"Different times..." She blushed.

"How about you show me all your sketches and the stories behind them? I planted a kiss on her temple and her blush deepened.

"I guess I deserve it. Okay." She turned to pull the folder of drawings out from her desk draw, and we sat on the top of her bed, squeezed together on the twin bed.

Lake started going through her pictures, one by one, and told me the story behind it. She didn't get to the ones of me until much later, probably stalling in hopes that I would get bored or have to leave. But with a sigh, she finally pulled those out too.

"I think you know this is your face.. I drew it right after we met, I couldn't get you out of my mind. So I drew you." She moved to the next one. "This is my dad, I try to draw him frequently so I don't forget. I throw away the sketch after, so I don't go off of it when I draw him again. That way his image stays fresh in my memory, and it doesn't get warped over time." She took the page, crumpling it up into a ball and throwing it into her garbage can across the room. I frowned, how often does she throw away her artwork? "Then these are your eyes, I did these yesterday. I was tired and I missed you." I might have imagined her move ever so slightly closer to me. She pulled the next one out. "You looked really cute on Sunday when you were laying in my lap. I kept thinking of that this week." I wrapped my arm around her, reminding myself that she's here with me again. "Remember when we sparred in the forest?" She held up another.

"I enjoyed that." I say quietly, smiling. It was really hot to watch her fight.

"I know you did." She giggled. She moved on to the last picture, and I was quiet, waiting for her to talk about it. "Sue's Diner." Was all she said.

"Our first kiss." I whisper, wanting to know just what she was thinking in that moment.

"Yeah." She tilted her head back to rest on my shoulder. I leaned my head down on hers, inhaling the smell of her hair. "I'm glad Emma let you in. I was an idiot."

"Yeah, you were..." I smirked when she poked me in the ribs.

"Shut up, Paul." I smiled and pulled her closer.

 **What POV do you want me to write from next? It could be a main plot chapter, a bonus scene of Laul or a bonus chapter from some other wolf/imprint/character/rock/whatever...**

 **Should I write from Lake's mom and dad's POV when they found out they were pregnant and how they chose Lake's name, just as a random thing to add? Might be interesting...**


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